According to recent numbers released this past week, there are now more prostate cancer related deaths in the UK than breast cancer deaths. You can read the original article here: “Prostate cancer now kills more in UK than breast cancer.”
It is amazing to see the great strides made in breast cancer research in recent years, which is directly reflected in the declining number of deaths. This trend while encouraging, brings attention to the fact that prostate cancer research is lagging behind. Many experts credit this discrepancy to the sheer volume of fund raising efforts and the world-wide public outcry to stamp out breast cancer. The development of precision medicine in breast cancer, where treatment recommendations can be made based on the different sub-types, can be attributed to this global movement in research.
The good news is, that the big strides made in breast cancer research can also be accomplished in prostate cancer research. With the right funding and global attention, researchers are confident that the same dramatic reduction in deaths can be seen within the next decade. One thing to note is, that this shift doesn’t represent a worsening situation for prostate cancer patients, but rather the population as a whole is getting older, so we will see more prostate cancer cases. As it stands now, breast cancer research, in essence, is 20 years ahead of prostate cancer research.